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Category: Historical Novels

Cloaked, hooded, and carrying a trunk on her back that included a wedding dress, French girls were brought to Louisiana in the earliest years of 1700 to marry French Colonists. Because the Frenchmen were marrying Indian women, frowned on by their military officers, the French government believed the Casquette girls would prevent that. At first, it was just twenty young girls but the numbers grew to 500. Although the girls were protected by nuns who traveled along with them until they found proper husbands, their lives in France had not been as sheltered. The Casquette girls were recruited from prisons, brothels and orphanages.

Casque is a French word for a helmet on the head, without a face covering. During the Renaissance period and later, artists began designing and creating this headwear, many were very beautiful and show examples of fine artisanship.

Suellen Ocean is the author of the series, Civil War Era Romances. Available here:

Viking is from the Old Norse word vikingr, and is used to describe the pirate Northmen who plundered the coasts of Europe in the 8th to 10th centuries. Viking is also another name for sea rover. The title Norseman and Northmen have the same meaning; it’s used to designate ancient Scandinavian men, including Norwegians. These blond, blue-eyed men were highly skilled sea and inlet navigators who made their way south to the Mediterranean and the Lebanon where they were called, the “Sea People.” History records Egyptian Pharaoh, Ramesses III, struggled with invaders who were also called, the “Sea People.”Suellen Ocean is the author of the historic novel The Celtic Prince Available here:

What is it that makes a woman admire a man in a military uniform? Is it the pride and self-confidence he conveys while serving his country? When the Civil War broke out, photography was a new technology and there were cameras everywhere, unfortunately they captured the horror of that brutal war. However, the photographers also captured the men who stood proudly wearing those uniforms, both Union and Confederate. If you look at antique photos of Generals William Sherman and Robert E. Lee, or photos of Ulysses S. Grant and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, they all show a posturing that was meant to convey confidence, probably to the enemy, but as it happens, just what studies say women appreciate and find attractive… confidence.

Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy.

There must have been a shortage of men after the Civil War. There were 224,586 men died from disease alone and almost 229,000 died in action, or from other accidents or from their wounds. It is a history Americans will never forget nor do they wish to repeat. Romance after the Civil War must have been in short supply, making me wonder if that contributed to the writing of the romance novel, “Gone With the Wind.”

Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy.

Around the time of the Civil War, a fellow came up with a way to recycle old carpets. He made satchels out of them. These satchels became a hot item, a trendy must-have for travelers. When you saw one of these colorful carpetbags, you knew that person was a traveler. But the carpet bag soon became synonymous with Northerners, who after the Civil War, went south to exploit the chaotic situation, either through shady business deals, political corruption, land grabs, etc.

Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy.

The Portuguese and Spanish nouns are mulato (masculine) and mulata (feminine). These nouns are used to describe a person of mixed African and Caucasian ancestry. According to a very old dictionary, the noun is used for the first generation, “offspring of a pure negro and a white”. It seems an old-fashioned word and with these old words come unpleasant memories of racism. Today we use expressions like mixed race, multi-ethnic, bi-racial but personally, I think the Spanish word Mulatto is a pleasant one. But that’s just me. Suellen Ocean is the author of the Civil War Era Historic Romance, Black Pansy. Available in print from Amazon and in a variety of formats, including computer:

There are many who reminisce fondly of the days of plantations. Today, the large plantation homes are tourist destinations. The skill that went into building them fascinates all who visit. Unfortunately, most of these grand homes were built by slaves during the 1700s and 1800s. Antebellum means “before the Civil War.”